Falcons To Close Non-Conference Slate Against Mississippi State, Michigan This Weekend

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball program will stay on the road for the team's final non-conference test of the regular season. The Orange and Brown are slated to face Mississippi State and Michigan at the Michigan Challenge, both of whom are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 coaches poll. Both the Bulldogs and Wolverines will enter the weekend with records of 7-1. The Falcons will first face Mississippi State on Thursday (Sept. 15) at 6:00 p.m. before taking on Michigan on Sunday (Sept. 18) with a 2:00 p.m. first serve.

Battling The Bulldogs
Mississippi State will enter the match against the Falcons with a 7-1 record, suffering their first loss last weekend to Houston in five sets. BGSU will be the second MAC opponent for Mississippi State after sweeping Ball State on Sept. 3 at the Lippy Invitational. The match between the Falcons and Bulldogs will be the second all-time. The first came in 1999 at the Marquette Challenge, a match the Falcons won in three sets. In the most recent AVCA poll, Mississippi State received 33 votes, being the fifth team outside the Top 25.

Strong defense has been a focal point for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State enters the weekend with a digs per set mark of 16.75, the 19th best average in the nation. A team approach has five Bulldogs with at least 50 digs this season, paced by junior Lilly Gunter with 125. As for the attack, sophomore middle blocker Sania Petties leads the way with a .419 hitting percentage that ranks 21st in the nation along with Gabby Waden with a kills per set mark of 4.11, 39th in the nation.

Wrestling The Wolverines
Michigan enters the weekend with a 7-1 record but, like the Falcons, will face Mississippi State first. The Wolverines first loss came last weekend as well, falling to Duke on the road in four sets. BGSU will serve as U of M's second MAC foe this season, topping Toledo in three sets at the Michigan Invitational on Sept. 2. Michigan and Bowling Green also have a common opponent in Loyola Chicago, who the Wolverines bested in five sets. This will mark the first match between BGSU and Michigan since 2002 and the 15th all-time.

The Wolverines enter the weekend with strong chemistry on the attack. Michigan is currently eighth in the nation for kills per set (14.29), 10th in the nation for hitting percentage (.300) and ninth in the nation for assists per set (13.21). Senior middle blocker Jess Robinson leads the way with a nation-leading .539 hitting percentage for the Wolverines. Michigan is also highlighted by Hannah Grant who is 23rd in the nation for aces per set, averaging 0.61.

Meyer Tied At The Top Of The Record Book
Katelyn Meyer, now in her fifth season with the Falcons, has reached 4,481 career attack attempts in the Orange and Brown. That mark ties Paige Penrod for the all-time record in program history. Meyer's next attack attempt will place her at the top of the list as the program's all-time leader. Her career mark is also fourth in the nation among active career leaders across all levels of collegiate volleyball. As for kills, Meyer is currently third all-time with 1,524 kills. She needs 51 to move into second all-time.

Victory Milestones On The Horizon
Both the BGSU volleyball program and Head Coach Danijela Tomic are nearing all-time milestones in the win column. As a program, the Falcons enter the weekend with 799 wins all-time, needing just one to reach the 800 mark. As for head coach Danijela Tomic, she sits at 174 career wins at the helm of the Falcons, also needing just one more to reach a milestone, with her next mark being 175 career wins with the Orange and Brown.

Julia Walz Nearing Top 10 All-Time
Julia Walz has landed at least one ace in each of the last four matches for the Falcons with a total of five over that span. With seven aces this season, Walz has brought her career total to 97 and is knocking on the door of the Top 10 all-time. Walz enters the weekend needing five more aces to reach 102 and pass Maggie Karges (2004-07) for 10th in program history for career service aces. The last Falcon to enter the Top 10 for the stat was Paige Penrod in 2013. Penrod is currently ninth with 114.

Digging Into Torres' Defense
Yelianiz Torres has served as the Falcons' libero this season and has moved into the national rankings for digs per set. Torres is currently averaging 5.00 digs per set, tied for 26th in the nation and second in the Mid-American Conference. The mark is currently the highest of Torres' career at BGSU. She's also totaled 160 digs thus far, the second-most of her career and only 125 away from matching her career-high for a single season. Torres has also registered three of the Falcons' four 20-dig matches this season with a high of 24 against Towson.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons volleyball team on social media
Twitter - @BGAthletics and @BGSUVolleyball
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsuvolleyball'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics' and 'Bowling Green State University Volleyball'
TikTok - @bgsuvolleyball
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results